Where is Lev Leshchenko? Lev Leshchenko - biography, information, personal life
Lev Valeryanovich Leshchenko. Born on February 1, 1942 in Moscow. Soviet and Russian pop singer. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1983).
He told about the circumstances of his birth: “I was born in February 1942 in Sokolniki. At that time, the Germans were in the Moscow region and a fierce battle was going on for Moscow. Maternity hospitals were not working, and therefore my mother gave birth to me right in the apartment - they lived in two-story house, still built by a merchant, two neighboring grandmothers delivered babies... Family legend says that by the time of my birth he managed to bring a loaf of bread and a quarter of alcohol. The old women diluted the alcohol with water and rinsed me in this solution, having previously heated the room with a stove, which was done extremely rarely, although the cold at home was terrible - plus three or four degrees.”
His roots are in the village of Nizy, Sumy district, Kharkov province, where his grandfather Andrei Vasilyevich Leshchenko was born, who in 1900 moved from here to the village of Lyubimovka, Kursk province, where he got a job as an accountant at a sugar factory. As Leshchenko said, his grandfather was a musically gifted man, he sang in a church choir and played the violin in a string quartet at the factory.
Father - Valeryan Andreevich Leshchenko (1904-2004), graduated from a gymnasium in Kursk, worked on a state farm, and in 1931 he was assigned to Moscow, where he began working as an accountant at a vitamin plant on Krasnaya Presnya. Drafted into the Red Army, fought in Soviet-Finnish war, upon return from which he was sent to serve in the NKVD. During the Great Patriotic War, he was deputy chief of staff of a special-purpose regiment of convoy troops and was awarded many orders and medals. At the end of the war and until his retirement, he continued to serve in the MGB, the Main Directorate of Border Troops of the KGB. Died at the age of 99.
Mother - Leshchenko Klavdiya Petrovna (1915-1943), died at 28 years old. “Trouble came in September 1943. Something happened to my mother’s throat - either cancer or tuberculosis. How to treat if there is no medicine? They didn’t save it, they buried it,” said Lev Valeryanovich.
My grandmother, my mother’s mother, moved in with them from Ryazan. However, his father did not have a good relationship with her. However, she managed to baptize her grandson: “when my grandmother and I went to see her in Ryazan, she baptized me there in secret from my father. When dad found out about this, he was shocked, and they completely quarreled.”
Soon the father moved the family to Bogorodskoye, where his unit was based, and they settled in an officer’s barracks. The father was busy in the service, and in those years his adjutant, Sergeant Major Andrei Fisenko, was involved in raising the future singer.
Little Lev grew up like a “son of the regiment”: he dined in the soldiers’ canteen, practiced at the shooting range, and marched in formation to the movies. At 4 years old I wore military uniform, in winter he walked on soldier's skis, which were three times longer than the boy. Lev visited his grandfather Andrei Leshchenko, who before October Revolution was an accountant and loved music very much: grandfather Andrei played the old violin and taught his grandson to sing.
In 1948, he had a stepmother, Marina Mikhailovna Leshchenko (1924-1981), who gave birth to Lev Leshchenko’s sister, Valentina Valerianovna Kuznetsova (née Leshchenko) (born 1949). “Marina Mikhailovna Sizova turned out to be a kind-hearted, caring, patient stepmother. She came to Moscow from the village of Ternovka, which is along the Volgograd road, and entered college here medical school, and when I got along with my dad, I dropped out of school because I had to raise three children,” said the artist.
His childhood was spent in Sokolniki, then the family moved to the Voykovsky district, where Lev went to school No. 201.
Attended the choir in the house of pioneers, went swimming, attended a club artistic word and a brass band. At the insistence of the choirmaster, he gives up classes and only practices singing, performs at school, and performs popular songs.
Lev Leshchenko recalled: “I started singing in the second grade. I suddenly developed a voice, and the music teacher, Lyudmila Andronikovna, began taking me to different musical groups - showing me. She settled on the children’s choir of the Falconer’s House of Pioneers, where I then went for three years. Everyone gasped: “Oh, what a voice the boy has!” In the tenth grade, I began to sing seriously. I bought all sorts of records - I especially liked Italian tenors - I listened and sang, although I had a strong baritone, which later, already in college, turned into a bass-baritone.
After school, he tried to enter theater universities, but he did not succeed, so from 1959 to 1960, he worked as a stagehand at the Bolshoi Theater.
Then, from 1960 to 1961, he worked as a fitter at a precision machinery factory. measuring instruments. Then he was drafted into the army, he wanted to be a sailor, he said so at the military registration and enlistment office, but his father spoiled his plans, thanks to him Lev was sent to serve in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, in the tank forces.
On January 27, 1962, the unit command sent Lev Leshchenko to the song and dance ensemble, where he became a soloist of the ensemble. In the ensemble, he sang in a quartet, led concerts and read poetry, and sang solo. In the army he begins to prepare for exams at the theater institute.
After the army, Leshchenko came back to enroll in GITIS in September 1964, the exams were already over, but he was given a chance, since they managed to remember the promising performer. In his second year, Leshchenko was accepted into the Operetta Theater at the invitation of the main director Georgy Anisimov, the singer’s teacher at GITIS. The first role - “sinner” in the play “Orpheus in Hell”, consisted of 2 words: “Let me warm myself.”
He studied, according to him, with Pokrovsky, Ansimov, Goncharov, Zavadsky, Efros.
From the same year, work began at the Mosconcert and the trainee group of the Operetta Theater. During summer holidays Leshchenko tours with concert teams throughout the USSR.
Since 1966, Lev Leshchenko became an artist at the Moscow Operetta Theater. And on February 13, 1970, the singer became a soloist-vocalist of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.
In March 1970, he became a laureate of the IV All-Union Competition of Variety Artists (II prize). In 1972 - laureate of the Golden Orpheus competitions (Bulgaria) and in Sopot (Poland).
Lev Leshchenko - Don't cry, girl
In 1977, the singer was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR, and in 1978 he was awarded the Lenin Komsomol. The footage of the end of the Olympics has already become textbook: to the sounds of Alexandra Pakhmutova’s song “Goodbye, Moscow,” the Olympic Bear flies into the sky.
In the video there are thousands of people at Luzhniki and large-scale crying faces of guests and athletes. The song was performed
Lev Leshchenko and Tatyana Antsiferova - Goodbye, Moscow
In 1980, he was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, in 1983, for outstanding services, Lev Leshchenko was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR, and in 1985 he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.
In 1990, he created and headed the musical agency theater of variety performances, which in 1992 was awarded State status. The main activity of the theater is organizing tours and concerts, presentations, and creative evenings. Today, the Music Agency unites several large groups, and also collaborates with almost all pop stars, both in Russia and neighboring countries. Over the years, with the participation of the theater, the BFT company, together with director Oleg Ryaskov, produced the musical television film “War Field Romance”, which became a laureate at the 1998 IFF in Volgograd. The theater also took part in the production of the video film “Anniversary... Anniversary... Anniversary...” and the anniversary program of David Tukhmanov “In the wake of my memory”, the program “10 years of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia”. The premiere of the musical TV show “STAR and Young” took place.
Lev Valeryanovich teaches at the Gnessin Music Pedagogical Institute (now the Gnessin Russian Academy). Many of his students became famous artists pop stars: Marina Khlebnikova, Katya Lel, Olga Arefieva, Varvara and many others.
Over the years creative activity Lev Leshchenko has released over 10 records, CDs and magnetic albums. Among them: “Lev Leshchenko” (1977), “Earth Gravity” (1980), “Lev Leshchenko and the Spectrum Group” (1981), “In the Circle of Friends” (1983), “Something for the Soul” (1987 ), " White bird cherry" (1993), " Best songs Lev Leshchenko" (1994), "Not a Moment of Peace" (1995), "Scent of Love" (1996), "Memories" (1996), "World of Dreams" (1999), "Simple Motif" (2001), and also above 10 minions. Lev Leshchenko also performed dozens of songs on compilations and original composers' records.
Lev Leshchenko - Farewell
In 1999, a personal star of Lev Leshchenko was laid on the Square of Stars of the State Central Concert Hall “Russia”.
In 2001, Lev Leshchenko’s book “Apology for Memory” was published, in which the artist talks about his life and his contemporaries - outstanding people art, sports and politics.
On February 1, 2002, Lev Leshchenko was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.
Lev Leshchenko's voice is a soft, voluminous low baritone, with a manly velvety timbre. In his youth and middle age, Lev Leshchenko was very popular both due to his voice and appearance. Leshchenko has always been different fit figure, soft graceful facial features, a kind smile. This image of him contrasts with the harsh, assertive, grotesque manner of stage behavior with which Leshchenko often performs in duets.
In 2011, he took part as a participant in the Channel One television project “The Phantom of the Opera.” In 2015, he performed as an honorary guest at the KUBANA rock festival.
On March 11, 2014, he signed an appeal from cultural figures Russian Federation in support of the policy of Russian President V.V. Putin in Ukraine and Crimea. Among other Russian pop stars, Lev Leshchenko is included in the Ukrainian sanctions list. He is prohibited from entering Ukrainian territory.
According to Forbes magazine, Lev Leshchenko is the “corporate poet” of the oil giant Lukoil. A corporate anthem was written based on his poems with the following words: “We walked along the highway, climbed ahead, / We bit into the ground, we froze in the tundra, / Fate tested us to the breaking point, / And life then did not seem like paradise to us.”
He is friends with Vagit Alekperov. By according to Forbes, for the Musical Agency pop theater, headed by Lev Leshchenko, partnership with Lukoil is the main source of income.
Russian Railways, Gazprom, and smaller companies also turn to Leshchenko’s services. At these corporate events, Leshchenko not only performs himself, but also brings artists working with other producers.
Lev Leshchenko in the program "Alone with Everyone"
Lev Leshchenko's height: 180 centimeters.
Personal life of Lev Leshchenko:
Was married twice. No children.
First wife - (born 1941), singer and theater actress. Married from 1966 to 1976.
They got married when Leshchenko was in his third year. Alla Abdalova was a fifth-grade student and was considered the most talented and promising at the university. “A classical singer, with a beautiful deep mezzo-soprano, a student of Maria Petrovna Maksakova. She was taken into the trainee group of the Bolshoi Theater. But it so happened that because of me she joined the stage. When at the beginning of my third year I was invited to play at the Operetta Theater, I told the artistic director of our course, director Ansimov: “Georgy Pavlovich, I will work for you, just take another girl.” I didn’t exactly set a condition, but I asked Alla very persistently, and she worked there for two years,” he said. Lev Valeryanovich.
The discord in the relationship began when Lev Leshchenko’s career took off, he toured a lot, and they began to work in different teams.
The singer recalled: “From the moment Alla and I scattered among different organizations, life began to separate us - we each endlessly went on our own tours. At the same time, I became more and more popular, and she, with all her unconditional talent, remained in the shadows Which, of course, hurt her. Conflicts, reproaches, and violent quarrels began. The explosion occurred in 1974 after my one and a half month trip to Japan with some ensemble. peak. I arrived, and it began: “You only think about yourself, you cheated on me there, you had affairs!” It was simply unbearable, my nerves couldn’t stand it, I felt that I wouldn’t last long, and Alla and I parted ways. next year Still, they tried to mend the relationship again. But you can’t step into the same river twice. Honestly, creative people rarely get along together. At the heart of the problem is jealousy - both creative and human."
Alla Abdalova - the first wife of Lev Leshchenko
According to the memoirs of Alla Abdalova, “before Leva, I had men, and he didn’t come to me as a virgin. But never - neither before nor after - I lost my head like that.” The reason for the breakup of the family, according to Abdalova, was Leshchenko’s affair with Irina Bagudina and the numerous abortions that she was forced to have during marriage due to her husband’s reluctance to have children. She especially grieved the loss of two twin boys. After her divorce from Leshchenko, Alla Alexandrovna never married again and never gave birth to children, which she later bitterly regretted. Along with loneliness, bad habits gradually entered Abdalova’s life.
Second wife - Irina Pavlovna Leshchenko (nee Bagudina, born 1954). They met in 1976 on tour in Sochi. They were introduced by his friend, who was dating Irina’s friend. At that time she was studying in Hungary to become a diplomat.
“And, imagine, I fell in love with Ira almost immediately. It happens like this: I saw it, and inside it was like a signal - mine! As if someone from above whispered: this woman was sent to you, destined, she is your destiny. First of all, Ira attracted me visually - she still looks good, but then she was a rare beauty: a striking brunette, though too thin for my taste, but most importantly, she exuded a kind of peace and unfeigned love of life, and she was unusually feminine -. impeccable style, charm, a little bit of slyness, an insinuating voice, cheerful sparkles in the eyes. And I was also struck by her indifferent attitude towards my person,” said the singer.
In 1978 they got married.
He is interested in sports. As a fan he loves tennis, basketball, swimming. He was the honorary president of the Lyubertsy basketball club “Triumph” (before the team moved to St. Petersburg).
Discography of Lev Leshchenko:
1971 - “Don’t Cry, Girl”
1974 - “Melt Water”
1975 - “Lev Leshchenko”
1975 - “Songs of Yuri Saulsky”
1976 - “Songs of Soviet composers”
1976 - “Lev Leshchenko”
1979 - “Lev Leshchenko”
1980 - “Gravity of the Earth”
1981 - “Parental House”
1983 - “In the Circle of Friends”
1987 - “Something for the soul”
1989 - “Favorite. Songs of Vyacheslav Rovny"
1992 - “The White Color of Bird Cherry”
1994 - “Lev Leshchenko sings for you”
1996 - “Scent of Love”
1996 - “Memories” (2 CDs)
1999 - “World of Dreams”
2001 - “Simple motive”
2002 - “Best”
2004 - “In the Mood for Love”
2004 - “Song for two” - songs by Vyacheslav Dobrynin
2004 - “Territory of Love”
2006 - “Be Happy”
2007 - “Names for all times. Nightingale Grove"
2009 - “Songs of Alexandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov”
2014 - “Anniversary edition. Unknown songs"
2015 - “I’ll give it to you”
Video clips of Lev Leshchenko:
1985 - “Old Tram”
1993 - “There”
1994 - “No need” - duet with Lada Dance
1996 - “Why didn’t you meet me?”
1997 - “Muscovites” - duet with the group “Lyceum”
1997 - “Song of Forgiveness” - duet with Alena Sviridova
1997 - “Hope”
1998 - “Victory Day” - duet with the group “Lyceum”
1999 - “World of Dreams” - duet with Angelica Agurbash
1999 - “Moscow tram”
2009 - “The Girl from the Past”
2011 - “Berezovsky’s Anthem”
Filmography of Lev Leshchenko:
1967 - “The Path to Saturn” - episode
1967 - “Sofya Perovskaya” - episode
1974 - “Yurkin Dawns” - vocals with A. Abdalova, song “Promise”
1975 - “Looking for the Dawn”
1979 - “The grandmothers said in two…” - performs the song “Where have you been?”
1995 - “Old songs about the main thing” - summer resident
1997 - “Old songs about the main thing 3” - announcer of the “Time” program
1998 - “War Field Romance”
2005-2007 - “Doomed to become a star”
2013 - “Treasures of O.K.” - cameo. Performs the song “Don’t Cry, Girl!”
Bibliography of Lev Leshchenko:
2001 - “Apology for Memory”
Songs performed by Lev Leshchenko:
“Alyoshenka” (E. Martynov - A. Dementyev) (music - poetry)
“Scent of Love” (A. Ukupnik - E. Nebylova)
“Aty-Bati” (V. Migulya - M. Tanich)
“Oh, what a pity” (A. Nikolsky)
“Ballad of Mother” (E. Martynov - A. Dementyev)
“White Birch” (V. Shainsky - L. Ovsyannikov)
“White Stork” (E. Hanok - A. Poperechny)
“Careless birds fly” (A. Zhigulin - I. Gabeli)
“We were young and happy” (M. Minkov - L. Rubalskaya)
“In the land where the hills are” (L. Lyadova - V. Petrov)
“The Cherry Orchard” (V. Dobrynin - M. Ryabinin)
“You are leaving” (A. Nikolsky)
“White Blizzard” (O. Ivanov - I. Shaferan)
“In dazzling white” (O. Sorokin - A. Lucina)
“Where have you been” (V. Dobrynin - L. Derbenev)
“Where is my home” (M. Fradkin - A. Bobrov)
“The main thing, guys, is not to grow old in your heart,” together with Joseph Kobzon (A. Pakhmutova - N. Dobronravov and S. Grebennikov)
“City Flowers” (M. Dunaevsky - L. Derbenev)
“Bitter Honey” (O. Ivanov - V. Pavlinov)
"Victory Day"
“Gentlemen Officers” (A. Nikolsky)
“Let's talk” (G. Movsesyan - R. Rozhdestvensky)
“Victory Day” (D. Tukhmanov - V. Kharitonov)
“Long farewell” (E. Kolmanovsky - E. Yevtushenko)
“Dear Birds” (A. Palamarchuk - N. Tverskaya)
“Vicious Circle” (M. Minkov - M. Ryabinin)
“Belated Love” (A. Ukupnik - B. Shifrin)
“For that guy” (M. Fradkin - R. Rozhdestvensky)
“Lace” (N. Pogodaev - K. Krastoshevsky)
“Fly with Aeroflot planes” (O. Feltsman - A. Voznesensky)
“Beloved Women” (S. Tulikov - M. Plyatskovsky)
“Magnitka” (A. Pakhmutova - N. Dobronravov)
“Mine both close and far” (I. Krutoy - R. Kazakova)
“We are one” (K. Gubin - K. Gubin)
“Love lives on Earth” (V. Dobrynin - L. Derbenev)
“We can’t live without each other” (A. Pakhmutova - N. Dobronravov)
“Memory is dear to us” (Yu. Yakushev - I. Kokhanovsky)
“Write me a letter” (V. Dobrynin - M. Ryabinin)
“The Beginning” (G. Movsesyan - R. Rozhdestvensky)
“Don’t cry, girl” (V. Shainsky - V. Kharitonov)
“Not a minute of peace” (V. Dobrynin - L. Derbenev)
“She was right about everything...” (I. Kataev - M. Ancharov)
“Late Woman” (A. Savchenko - R. Kazakova)
“The Last Meeting” (I. Krutoy - R. Kazakova)
“Last Love” (O. Sorokin - A. Zhigarev)
“Why didn’t you meet me” (N. Bogoslovsky - N. Dorizo)
“I invite all friends” (K. Gubin - K. Gubin)
“Gravity of the Earth” (D. Tukhmanov - R. Rozhdestvensky)
“Farewell” (V. Dobrynin - L. Derbenev)
“Parental home” (V. Shainsky - M. Ryabinin)
“Native Land” (V. Dobrynin - V. Kharitonov)
“Wedding horses” (D. Tukhmanov - A. Poperechny)
“The heart is not a stone” (V. Dobrynin - M. Ryabinin)
“Nightingale Grove” (D. Tukhmanov - A. Poperechny)
“Ancient Moscow” (A. Nikolsky)
“Old swing” (V. Shainsky - Yu. Yantar)
“Old Maple” (A. Pakhmutova - M. Matusovsky)
“Tatiana’s Day” (Yu. Saulsky - N. Olev)
“Tonechka” (A. Savchenko - V. Baranov)
“Meadow grasses” (I. Dorokhov - L. Leshchenko)
“I love you, capital” (P. Aedonitsky - Yu. Vizbor)
Lev Leshchenko is a popular Soviet and Russian pop singer, vocal teacher, and owner of one of the most pleasant and recognizable baritones in Russia. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1983). Over the long and fruitful years of his work, Leshchenko gave about 10 thousand concerts and recorded more than 700 songs, the most famous of which are “Victory Day” and “Farewell.”
Childhood
Lev Valeryanovich Leshchenko was born in Moscow, in wartime– February 1, 1942. His father, Valeryan Andreevich, was awarded orders and medals for his participation in the Great Patriotic War and service in border troops KGB in the post-war period. Lev’s mother, Klavdia Petrovna, died at the age of 28, a year after the birth of her son. In 1948, the boy had a stepmother, Marina Leshchenko, whom the artist later always remembered with warmth and gratitude. In 1949, she gave birth to her husband’s daughter Valentina.
Leva often went to the military unit where his father served, which is why they called him the son of the regiment. He dined only in the soldiers' canteen, went to the cinema in formation and practiced at the shooting range. From the age of four, Lev wore a military uniform and rode soldier's skis in winter, which were three times longer than the boy himself.
Little Lev often visited his grandfather Andrei Leshchenko, who loved music very much and often played the old violin for his grandson and taught Lev to sing. Since childhood, the boy was fond of the songs of Leonid Utesov, so when the opportunity arose, he joined the choir at the House of Pioneers, and at school he began performing with the compositions of his favorite artist.
After school, Leshchenko tried to enter the theater GITIS, but it did not work out for him. Therefore, until 1960, he worked as a simple stagehand at the Bolshoi Theater, and then worked at a precision measuring instruments factory as a fitter.
In 1961, the future artist was drafted into the army. Lev Valeryanovich wanted to be a sailor, but his father sent him to serve in the tank forces in the GDR. In 1962, the unit command sent the singer to a military song and dance ensemble, where Leshchenko soon became a soloist. He was entrusted with singing in a quartet, conducting concerts, as well as reading poetry and singing solo. In the army, Lev Leshchenko continued his preparation for entering a theater university.
Start of a career
After the service, yesterday's soldier came to GITIS again. By then entrance exams were already over, but Leo was given a chance because he bright talent managed to remember. Despite the fact that the members of the selection committee did not highly appreciate the material he had chosen for audition, Leshchenko was enrolled in the course.
Studying at GITIS transformed Leo. A year later, no one doubted that a real artist was studying on the course. As a sophomore, Leshchenko got a job at the Operetta Theater. His first role was as a sinner in the production of “Orpheus in Hell” with only one line: “Let me warm myself.” But that was just the beginning. As Lev Valeryanovich himself said, he studied with Pokrovsky, Efros and Zavadsky.
At the same time, work began for him at the Mosconcert. Lev Leshchenko was in the trainee group, and during the summer holidays the young artist went on tour around the USSR with concert crews.
Creativity of Lev Leshchenko
In 1966, Lev Leshchenko became an artist at the Moscow Operetta Theater, and five years later he was already a soloist-vocalist of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. In the spring of 1970, the artist won the fourth All-Union Variety Artists Competition. Two years later, Lev Valeryanovich became a laureate of the international competition “Golden Orpheus” (Bulgaria) and won in Sopot (Poland) with the song by Mark Fradkin based on the poems of Robert Rozhdestvensky “For that guy”.Lev Leshchenko - “For that guy”
Significant for its musical career and the singer always considered his achievement to be David Tukhmanov’s song “Victory Day,” beloved by the entire Union, which Leshchenko first performed on May 9, 1975. It was in his performance that this song found its sound and found a response in the hearts of listeners.
During these years, Lev Valeryanovich continued to record songs that became hits, including “Thank you for the silence,” “Don’t cry, girl.”
Lev Leshchenko - “Victory Day”. 1975
The artist’s collaboration with Alexandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov turned out to be very fruitful. Leshchenko performed songs by the famous duet “We Can’t Live Without Each Other”, “Love, Komsomol and Spring”. Songs based on poems by Larisa Rubalskaya, Leonid Derbenev, and Yuri Vizbor were also popular.
In 1977, the singer was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR, and a year later he was awarded honorary prize named after Lenin Komsomol. In 1980, Lev Leshchenko received the Order of Friendship of Peoples, and three years later, for outstanding services, he became People's Artist of the RSFSR. In 1985, the Order of the Badge of Honor appeared in the artist’s collection.
Lev Leshchenko and Tatyana Antsiferova - “Goodbye, Moscow” (1980)
In 1990, Lev Leshchenko became the head of the Musical Agency theater of variety performances. Two years later, the institution was given state status. “Musical Agency” today has united several groups and organized cooperation with most pop stars in Russia and neighboring countries. The most successful project The theater became the musical film “Military Field Romance” (1998), in which military-patriotic songs were performed by Lev Leshchenko, Vladimir Vinokur and Larisa Dolina.
For more than ten years, Lev Leshchenko has been working as a teacher at the Gnessin Music and Pedagogical Institute. His students became quite famous on the stage: Marina Khlebnikova, Olga Arefieva, Katya Lel, Varvara.
During his creative life, Lev Leshchenko released more than 10 records, magnetic albums and CDs. During my creative career Leshchenko performed and recorded joint songs with Valentina Tolkunova and Sofia Rotaru, Anna German and Tamara Gverdtsiteli.
Lev Leshchenko and Anna German - “Echo of Love” (1977)
In 2001, a book by Lev Leshchenko entitled “Apology for Memory” was published. In it, the artist spoke about his contemporaries and about his life. In the winter of 2002, Lev Leshchenko received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, fourth degree.
Lev Leshchenko has a voluminous, soft, low baritone and at the same time a courageous and velvety timbre. Due to such a voice and thanks to his pleasant appearance and charm, the artist was very popular in his youth and middle age. His image contrasts with the assertive and abrupt demeanor on stage of Vladimir Vinokur, with whom the singer has often performed in tandem since the 90s.
In 2011, the artist participated in the television project “The Phantom of the Opera” on Channel One, where the singer professionally performed romances and arias from classical works.
Personal life of Lev Leshchenko
The first wife of the People's Artist was singer Alla Abdalova. They met at GITIS (Lev was 2 years younger), and when Alla was finishing her fifth year, they got married. Together they formed the famous duet “Old Maple”. In 1974, a crisis arose in their relationship, and the couple decided to live separately. A year later, Lev and Alla gave their marriage a second chance. Wedding of Lev Leshchenko and Irina BagudinaWhile the student was on vacation, Lev did not show up at home, and when Irina flew back to Budapest, he returned to the apartment, where he found his suitcases packed - his wife guessed that he was having an affair. Leo thanked her for not causing a scandal and left her life. They failed to maintain friendly relations.
In 1978, Lev Leshchenko and Irina got married for the second time. For the sake of her husband, Irina left her career and became an assistant director at the Leshchenko Theater. Subsequently, Lev and Irina were unable to have children for health reasons, but this did not affect the strength of their marriage.
Despite his age, the artist continues to be active in sports and enjoys basketball, tennis, and swimming. He is the honorary president of the basketball club of the city of Lyubertsy "Triumph".
Lev Leshchenko – golden baritone Soviet era, a singer whose biography and personal life have always become a topic of discussion.
Biography
The biography and personal life of Lev Leshchenko amazes with its rapid rise and unexpected turns- from a stage worker at the Bolshoi Theater to a popularly beloved artist, a full holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
https://youtu.be/nHvkhKxUbt0
Childhood and family
Lev Leshchenko was born in 1942, in Moscow. He inherited the gift of singing from his grandfather Andrei Vasilyevich, a Ukrainian by nationality. My grandfather was involved in music all his life: he sang in a choir and played string instruments.
But father Valeryan Andreevich, born in 1904, connected his life with service in the NKVD troops, rose to high ranks in the KGB, was awarded many times and, just a year short of his centenary.
Lev Leshchenko lost his mother early, and when he was six years old, she was replaced by his stepmother.
The most early childhood Lev passed among the army barracks, he was considered something like a “son of the regiment” and a brave foreman was involved in his upbringing. And then the father had no time for his son.
Lev Leshchenko in his youth and nowLeshchenko's pioneering years were spent in a painful search for his true destiny: he tried himself in the dramatic field, dreamed of the theater, sang in the choir. It was the choirmaster of the House of Pioneers who advised him to concentrate on singing. Leshchenko’s repertoire at that time consisted mainly of popular songs by Utesov.
The first attempt to break into theater universities was unsuccessful. I had to learn other professions: stage worker, assembly mechanic. He was drafted into the army and, under the patronage of his father, ended up in the GSVG.
Lev Leshchenko in the army
In the army he joined the song and dance ensemble of the 2nd Guards tank army in Germany. In this team I gained the necessary experience, and after demobilization managed to enter GITIS.
The talented student was noticed, and already in his second year he was invited to join the troupe of the famous Operetta Theater. Singing career has begun.
Start of a career
After four years After working in operetta, Leshchenko went to work at the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and dramatically changed his repertoire: he began to perform arias from classical operas.
In the early seventies, Leshchenko collaborated with the Silantiev and Rozhdestvensky orchestras, performing works by Frenkel and Rodion Shchedrin. First great success comes in 70: Leshchenko becomes a laureate of the All-Union Variety Artists Competition for performing songs by Oscar Feltsman.
In 1972, international recognition came: Leshchenko performed brilliantly at the Golden Orpheus competitions in Bulgaria and Sopot in Poland.
Lev Leshchenko beginning of his career
The singer's popularity in the 70s became incredible. Fans are seriously interested in the biography and personal life of Lev Leshchenko, and collect his photos.
Leshchenko becomes the main performer of songs on patriotic themes, travels around with concerts Soviet Union and countries of the socialist camp, receives the Lenin Komsomol Prize.
Of course, Leshchenko’s main song of those years was “Victory Day” by composer Tukhmanov. It was first performed in 1975, and since then the words “a holiday with tears in our eyes” have become popular.
Lev Leshchenko - “Victory Day” 1975
The most important songs of Leshchenko from the repertoire of the 70s:
- "For that guy"
- "Love, Komsomol and Spring"
- "Thank you for the silence"
- "I love you, capital"
- "Nightingale Grove"
- "Don't cry, girl"
- "Parent's House"
- “The Gravity of the Earth” and others.
Music and films
The 80s were a time of great changes in the biography and personal life of Lev Leshchenko - this included life with a new young wife, and new heights in song and musical creativity.
Duet of Leshchenko and Antsiferova “Goodbye, Moscow!” became the farewell song of the Moscow Olympics, and the song quickly gained world fame, and Leshchenko’s photo appeared on the pages of international publications.
During these years, Leshchenko tried himself in a new role: he created VIA “Spectrum”.
Duet of Leshchenko and Antsiferova at the 80 Olympics
In 1990, another significant revolution occurred in the biography and personal life of singer Lev Leshchenko - he headed the Musical Agency theater, which later received state status. The theater is engaged concert activities and organizing tours, as well as producing television films such as “War Field Romance”, “10 Years of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia”, “In the Wave of My Memory” and others.
During his creative career, Leshchenko released 28 discs of various formats. They are invariably in demand, network users download them to iTunes.
In total, Lev Leshchenko took part in 15 videos, including together with popular young performers: the group “Disco Accident”, Lada Dance, Angelica Agurbash and others.
Lev Leshchenko and Anzhelika Agurbash
During his creative career, Lev Leshchenko starred in ten films, sometimes in a cameo role, that is, playing himself. The most famous of these paintings:
- "The Path to Saturn"
- "Old songs about the main thing"
- "Doomed to become a star."
Lev Leshchenko Honored and People's Artist of the RSFSR, laureate of many song awards, full holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Lev Leshchenko in the film “Doomed to Be a Star”
Personal life
The biography and personal life of Lev Leshchenko so developed that he has no children. Leshchenko met his first wife, singer Albina Abdalova, at GITIS. They got married in 1966 and were married for ten years.
For many years, the first wife of Lev Leshchenko lived in seclusion, without giving any interviews and without disclosing details of her biography and personal life, and only in recent years broke her vow of silence.
Lev Leshchenko met his new young wife on tour in Sochi, when they rode together in the same elevator. Amazingly, then Irina had no idea who was in front of her, and mistook Lev for some respectable gangster.
Lev and Irina Leshchenko
ABOUT whirlwind romance Albina became aware of her husband, and she proposed to separate. For the sake of his future young wife, Lev Leshchenko decided to make a sharp change in his biography and personal life, and filed for divorce from his first wife.
Since 1978, Lev and Irina Leshchenko have been considered one of the strongest and most harmonious families in Russian show business. Undoubtedly, Lev Leshchenko’s wife, a then young woman born in 54, dreamed of children, but her biography and personal life were predetermined by the doctors’ diagnosis of “infertility.” However, this did not affect their future relationship in any way.
Irina Leshchenko is one of the ascetic wives. For the sake of her family and husband, she gave up her own career. Leshchenko himself says that she skillfully manages the entire household, and he turns into a “henpecked” man at home. For him, his beloved wife is “a person against whom there are no complaints.”
Lev Leshchenko and his wife Irina
Irina Leshchenko said in one of her interviews that the secret is long family life is that she never humiliated her husband with jealousy. Yes, he still has a whole army fans, yes, young, beautiful backing vocalists always perform on stage with him. But this is part of his job, to be jealous of this is stupid.
Perhaps the most interesting fact in the life of Lev Leshchenko is his long-term friendship with Vladimir Vinokur.
They met 48 years ago, when young Vinokur, who had just returned from the army, came to enroll in GITIS. Leshchenko played a prank on him, introducing himself as a member of the selection committee and forcing him to sing, dance and read fables. Later, mutual friendly pranks became an integral part of their lives.
Lev Leshchenko with friend Vladimir Vinokur
Over the years, there have never been any conflicts or quarrels between friends. Vinokur is admittedly Leshchenko’s best parodist, but he never took offense, but began to parody in response, and it turned out no less funny.
When in 1992 Vinokur miraculously survived car accident in Germany, the first who came to his aid were Kobzon and Leshchenko.
Artists Lev Leshchenko, Vladimir Vinokur, Kobzon
A few more not so widely known facts from the singer's life:
- Leshchenko’s first role on the stage of the Operetta Theater consisted of one phrase: “Let me warm up”
- Leshchenko's first entertainer at the concert was Gennady Khazanov.
- On the Square of Stars near the Rossiya concert hall there is a star of Lev Leshchenko.
- Leshchenko himself writes the lyrics to some of his songs.
- He was an honored guest of the KUBANA rock festival.
- In 2001 he published the book “Apology of Memory”.
- Leshchenko is an active sports fan.
- Lev Leshchenko wrote the text of the corporate anthem of the Lukoil company.
- Leshchenko taught at the Gnessin School, and among his students were Katya Lel, Varvara, Khlebnikova and other famous performers.
- Leshchenko gave more than ten thousand concerts during his career.
Lev Leshchenko on stage
Lev Leshchenko now
In 2016, Lev Leshchenko, quite unexpectedly, became a participant in an international scandal. Democrats used his image in the US election race. IN commercial Leshchenko was introduced by Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov, who sponsors Donald Trump's campaign headquarters. Leshchenko took this news rather ironically and abandoned the idea of suing American PR people.
In 2017, Lev Leshchenko celebrated his 75th birthday. In honor of this date, a large concert “Me and My Friends” took place at the State Kremlin Palace. In addition to the hero of the day, the concert was attended by Vinokur, Soso Pavliashvili and many other stars national stage.
Stas Mikhailov congratulates Lev Leshchenko on his anniversary
The hero of the day received many warm congratulations, including from the country’s top leadership. Lev Leshchenko was called a symbol of the era, an integral part of the country's history, and his songs were called the cultural code of a generation.
Last year the premiere of the film “ The last hero", Lev Leshchenko took part in the recording of the soundtrack.
In 2018, Lev Leshchenko became a confidant of the candidate in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation.
Lev Leshchenko took part in the last sad events - farewells to Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Vladimir Shainsky. He said with bitterness about Hvorostovsky that he again attracted a full house.
Lev Leshchenko at farewell to Vladimir Shainsky
The secret of Lev Leshchenko’s unfading popularity is worthy of separate study. The wonderful texture, the unique timbre of the voice, the acting charm played their role, but there were other singers with no less good abilities, but where are they now? Their names have sunk into oblivion, they are forgotten.
Meanwhile, those who are familiar with the era of the 70s and 80s first-hand know that the attitude towards the work of Lev Leshchenko was ambiguous. Many critical arrows were fired at him.
Lev Leshchenko was reproached for his overly pretentious manner of performance, for his passion for performing loyal songs in the spirit of “love, Komsomol and spring.” Among the intelligentsia he was called the singer of officialdom and, in a sense, the antipode of Vladimir Vysotsky.
Lev Leshchenko
“Big things are seen from a distance,” and now, after years, it becomes clear that many of these reproaches were unfair. Few people know that in 1979 Leshchenko made the film “Rehearsal before the Performance,” which was simply banned by censorship. Lapin, head of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, called this work ideological sabotage. In the film, Leshchenko appeared as a guy in jeans, and the disco-rock music was written by the then unknown Vyacheslav Dobrynin.
In those days, many popular artists and performers faced a dilemma: either behave correctly and do what your superiors expect from you, or get blacklisted and disappear from radio and television screens, losing the opportunity to perform on stage. Not everyone became dissidents, which is why they made certain compromises.
Lev Leshchenko and Vyacheslav Dobrynin
If Leshchenko had behaved any differently, the fate of Valery Obodzinsky could have awaited him, who, despite all his enormous talent, was simply “cut off” and disappeared from view of listeners for decades.
In the end, the viewer and listener are always right. And Lev Leshchenko still has a listener. His CDs are bought, there are never empty halls at his concerts. And that means he found his way to the hearts of people. Not for a singer greater reward than demand from the audience.
Lev Leshchenko
It’s no secret that vocal abilities inevitably decline with age, but Leshchenko still has a “wow” voice, and he can easily give a head start to many young performers. It looks great, will keep excellent physical fitness, moves well on stage. Sometimes it seems that the years simply have no power over him.
I would like to hope that Lev Valeryanovich’s best song has not yet been sung. There will be more new concerts and new unforgettable hits. Leshchenko himself taught us that almost every song he performed became a hit.
https://youtu.be/G6WZjuzl7Es
This day in history: (photo + video)
Lev Leshchenko's father was awarded numerous orders and medals for his participation in the Great Patriotic War and military service in the future. He was a long-liver, died at the age of 99, and was buried at the Mashkinskoye cemetery. Lev Leshchenko’s mother, Klavdia Petrovna, died when she was only 28 years old. In 1948, the future artist had a stepmother, Marina Leshchenko. She gave birth to her husband's daughter and Lev's sister Valentina in 1949.
"Son of the Regiment"
The future singer was raised by foreman Andrei Fisenko. Lev's dad worked constantly, so his son was “the son of the regiment.” He dined only in the soldiers' canteen, went to the cinema in formation and practiced at the shooting range. From the age of four, Lev Valeryanovich wore a military uniform and rode soldier’s skis in the winter, and they were three times longer than the boy himself.
Little Lev often visited his grandfather Andrei Leshchenko. Before the revolution, he served as an accountant and loved music. Grandfather constantly played the old violin for his grandson and taught Lev to sing.
Lev Leshchenko spent his childhood in Sokolniki. There he also went to the choir at the Pioneer House, a swimming pool and a literary circle, as well as a brass band. The choirmaster convinced little singer give up all the mugs and focus only on singing. The boy followed the advice and began performing at school with popular songs by Leonid Utesov.
After school, Lev Leshchenko tried to enter theater universities, however, he did not succeed, so for a year until 1960 he worked as a stagehand at the Bolshoi Theater. Then he worked at a precision measuring instruments factory as a fitter. And then the future artist was drafted into the army. Lev Valeryanovich wanted to be a sailor, but his father sent him to the tank forces in the GDR. In 1962, the command of the unit sent the artist to the song and dance ensemble. There Leshchenko became a soloist. He was entrusted with singing in a quartet, conducting concerts, as well as reading poetry and singing solo. In the army, Lev Leshchenko continued his preparation for entering a theater university.
Public favorite Lev Leshchenko
Mediocrity and stupidity
After the army, yesterday's soldier came to GITIS. By that time, the exams were already over, but Lev was given a chance because he was remembered. Leshchenko sang the aria, but no one was impressed by the artist’s data. admissions committee were not produced. Army feuilleton, which I read future artist, only caused laughter. Feuilleton was recognized as untalented, but was accepted into the university for being “stupid.” However, Lev Leshchenko’s studies transformed him. A year later, no one doubted that a real artist was studying on the course. As a sophomore, Lev Leshchenko went to work at the Operetta Theater. His first role was as a sinner in the production of Orpheus in Hell. The artist had to say only two words: “Let me warm up.” As Lev Valeryanovich himself says, he studied with Pokrovsky, Goncharov, Anisimov, Efros and Zavadsky.
At the same time, work began at the Mosconcert. Then Lev Leshchenko was in the Operetta trainee group. And during the summer holidays, the artist traditionally went on tour around the USSR with concert crews.
Creation
In 1966, Lev Leshchenko became an artist at the Moscow Operetta Theater. And five years later he became a soloist-vocalist of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. In the spring of 1970, the artist became the winner - laureate of the Fourth All-Union Competition of Variety Artists. Two years later, Lev Valeryanovich was already a laureate of competitions in Sopot (Poland) and “Golden Orpheus” (Bulgaria).
In 1977, the singer was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR, and a year later he was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize. In 1980, Lev Leshchenko became the owner of the Order of Friendship of the People, and three years later he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR for outstanding services. In 1985, the Order of the Badge of Honor appeared in the artist’s collection.
In 1990, Lev Leshchenko became the head of the Musical Agency theater of variety performances. Two years later, the theater was given state status. The Temple of Art is mainly engaged in organizing tours and concert events, presentations and creative evenings. “Musical Agency” today unites several groups and collaborates with most pop stars in Russia and neighboring countries. Over the years of its existence, the theater staged and filmed the musical film “War Field Romance”, the anniversary program “In the Wave of My Memory” by David Tukhmanov and the video film “Anniversary... Anniversary... Anniversary...”, in addition, the program “10 years of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia” was released, as well as the musical show “STAR and Young” was presented.
For more than ten years, Lev Leshchenko has been working as a teacher at the Gnessin Music and Pedagogical Institute. His students became quite famous on the stage. These are Marina Khlebnikova, Olga Arefieva, Katya Lel, Varvara and others.
During his creative life, Lev Leshchenko released more than 10 records, magnetic albums and CDs. These are “Lev Leshchenko”, “The Gravity of the Earth”, “Lev Leshchenko and the Spectrum Group”, “In the Circle of Friends”, “Something for the Soul”, “The White Color of Bird Cherry”, “The Best Songs of Lev Leshchenko”, “Not a Minute Peace", "Scent of Love", "Memories", "World of Dreams" and "Simple Motif". The artist released more than ten minions. Lev Leshchenko performs dozens of songs on original and compilation records of composers.
In 1999, a personal star of Lev Valeryanovich Leshchenko was laid on the Square of Stars of the Rossiya concert hall.
In 2001, a book by Lev Leshchenko entitled “Apology for Memory” was published. In it, the artist talks about his contemporaries and his life.
In the winter of 2002, Lev Leshchenko received another medal. This time he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, fourth degree.
Lev Leshchenko has a voluminous, soft, low baritone. At the same time, a manly velvety timbre. Due to his voice, and also thanks to his appearance, the artist was highly popular in his youth and middle age. At the same time, the singer always had good figure, kind and charming smile, modest and sometimes shy demeanor in public. His image always contrasts with the assertive, harsh, grotesque behavior on stage of Vladimir Vinokur. It is with him that the singer often performs in tandem.
In 2011, the artist participated in the television project “The Phantom of the Opera” on Channel One.
Interesting facts
The artist enjoys basketball, tennis, and swimming. He acts not only as a fan, but also as the honorary president of the Lyubertsy basketball club “Triumph”. The singer himself is also actively involved in sports.
Personal life
Lev Leshchenko has been married since 1978. His wife is Irina Pavlovna Leshchenko, born in 1954. She graduated from the University of Budapest.
"Lukoil"
According to Forbes, Lev Leshchenko is the corporate poet of the oil giant. He wrote poems for the corporate anthem: “We walked along the highway, climbed ahead, We bit into the ground, we froze in the tundra, Fate tested us to the breaking point, And life then did not seem like paradise to us.”
Moments of creativity
Lev Leshchenko is friends with Vagit Alikperov. And the musical agency theater of variety performances, where the artist is in charge, according to Forbes, lives only through a partnership with Lukoil. However, Gazprom and Russian Railways also use Lev Valeryanovich’s services. At corporate events, the singer not only performs himself, but also brings artists working under the wing of other producers.
Video:
Lev Leshchenko: “My wife said: “Sorry...” - and carried two suitcases onto the landing”
Lev Leshchenko: “My wife said: “Sorry...” and carried two suitcases onto the landing.”
Interview with pop singer and his first wife
Lev Leshchenko -: Ivan Kobyakov
— Lev Valeryanovich, you are associated with the image of a winner: the main performer of the song “Victory Day”, a composition about the Olympic bear, which has become a symbol sporting achievements…
— I personally don’t consider myself a winner, but I probably do, as a representative of my generation. Based on how much we - wartime children - had to overcome in life... I was born in February 1942 in Sokolniki. At that time, the Germans were in the Moscow region and a fierce battle was going on for Moscow. Maternity hospitals were not open, and so my mother gave birth to me right in the apartment - they lived in a two-story house, still built by a merchant. Two neighbor grandmothers delivered the baby... Dad, having returned from the Finnish war, was sent to serve in the NKVD. During the Great Patriotic War, with the rank of captain, he was deputy chief of staff of a special-purpose regiment; they escorted to the front, ensuring security, military equipment- tanks, guns. Accordingly, my father was on the road almost all the time. But, returning to the place of deployment of his unit in the Moscow region, he always came to us with gifts from his service rations.
parents - Valeryan Andreevich and Klavdia Petrovna (before the war) - Photo: from personal archive Lev Leshchenko
Family legend says that at the time of my birth he managed to bring a loaf of bread and a quarter of alcohol. The old women diluted the alcohol with water and rinsed me in this solution, having previously heated the room with a stove, which was done extremely rarely, although the cold at home was terrible - plus three or four degrees. I remember all the happy moments of dad’s arrival from the front. It was always unexpected, at night: they woke me up, and in fascination I looked and felt his sword belt, pistol, shoulder straps, saber - then the officers still wore them. And food appeared in the house. And so we all lived by overcoming poverty and hunger. My older sister Yulia and I had a really hungry childhood; we always wanted to eat, but the stores were empty. But nothing, they survived. Only my mother didn’t survive.
Trouble came in September 1943. Something happened to my mother’s throat—either cancer or tuberculosis. How to treat if there is no medicine? They didn’t save us, they buried us... My grandmother, my mother’s mother, moved to us from Ryazan. But my father and grandmother began to have serious disagreements: she was a devout old lady and all the time she tried to involve my sister and me in the church, and my father, a member of the NKVD, an ideological communist, of course, protested. In the summer, when my grandmother and I went to visit her in Ryazan, she baptized me there in secret from my father. When dad found out about this, he was shocked, and they completely quarreled... Soon my father moved our family to Bogorodskoye, where his unit was based, and we settled in my dad’s room in the officer’s barracks. When I was four years old, a tunic and cap were specially sewn for me, and I became the son of the regiment.
My father’s colleague and assistant, foreman Andrei Fesenko, looked after me - he and my father are from the same Ukrainian village. He cared so much about me, watched over me so much, that the nickname Sailor Chizhik stuck to him.
— Was your father a tough man?
- No, just the opposite, kind, modest and, I would say, somehow correct. Honesty and love for his homeland were not for him empty words. Dad was quite private and didn’t talk about military exploits. In general, he is extremely restrained in expressing emotions, although he sometimes gets excited during the holidays. He was so funny then, he amused everyone, he played: whether it was the piano, the guitar, the balalaika or the violin - it doesn’t matter, he could pick out any melody on any instrument by ear, despite the fact that he was self-taught. He's just so musical by nature. Unlike me, by the way, who does not play any musical instrument.
When I was seven years old, my dad got married, and I had foster mother. Soon another sister, Valya, was born. Marina Mikhailovna Sizova turned out to be a kind-hearted, caring, and patient stepmother. She came to Moscow from the village of Ternovka, which is on the Volgograd road, entered a medical institute here, and when she met her dad, she dropped out of school because she had to raise three children. She died in 1981, so dad outlived his wife by 23 years, despite the fact that she was 20 years younger than him. Valeryan Andreevich was a long-liver among us, only six months short of living to be a hundred years old. But according to the entry on the gravestone, it still turns out to be a century: from 1904 to 2004...
-What did you call your father's wife?
- Mom. The only thing is, when I met her, she was pregnant. And I, a five-year-old boy, didn’t know what pregnancy was, and I was scared of her, embarrassed to walk next to her, and kept thinking: “What a ridiculous fat aunt!” My ears hurt then, she went with me to the clinic, and I always tried to stay away from her...
— In the post-war years there were a lot of street children, punks, and criminal romance was in fashion. Did this affect you?
Of course, but I was especially afraid to come into close contact with this world. Still, I have a very developed instinct of self-preservation. And so, in small things, of course, I fooled around with the guys. There was no stealing, but there was plenty of hooliganism. We fought. But no stabbing. They were strict with this - for the “feather”, God forbid, if they found it, they beat me terribly. Although there were many who served time. We did all sorts of tricks all the time. For example, they hung little rattles on the windows: some kind of thing was pinned to a rope, and a twitching began - there was a knocking in the windows, people looked out, but no one was there. It was also fashionable to place pistons or matches under the rails: the tram was moving, toot-too-too, and suddenly - one explosion, a click. Funny. Lighters were cut out of keys and filled with gunpowder. They played wall games with coins for money, and siskin games. They raced through the streets on skates - they screwed snow boots to felt boots, in their hands there was a hook, you hooked it to the body of the car and rushed straight along the pavement at the risk of your life. Well, there were games in use - rounders, Cossack robbers, volleyball in the yard...
I smoked for the first time during the summer holidays before second grade. They brought me to relatives in the village, and there the local boys gave me a rolled-up cigarette with the strongest tobacco. My breathing stopped so much that my eyes literally popped out of my head and I could barely catch my breath. Well, in Moscow, somewhere from the third grade, we smoked with the guys specifically. I drank heavily for the first time in fourth grade. Someone whistled a bottle of vodka from the house, the six of us climbed under some kind of carriage and... after a while we were all completely drunk. I don’t remember how I got home and what happened next. And from the fifth grade we played with adults. Honestly. Let's say May Day. Everyone living in the yard takes food and vodka outside, all this is placed on a wooden table - and the party begins. “Oh, and the boys are here? So go to the table, let’s wave a little at a time, it won’t hurt...” Well, who would refuse a treat? So we joined the feast.
In 1953, when I was in the sixth grade, our family moved to Voykovskaya, into a huge 23-unit Stalinist house. If in Sokol-ni-ki the five of us lived in one 14-meter room, with a bunch of neighbors in a communal apartment, then here we got two rooms in a three-ruble ruble with a bathroom and hot water. And even with a phone. Miracle! Yulia and I were in one of our rooms, and Valya and her parents were in the other. I immediately went to the Dynamo club and started playing basketball. There was one more innovation: if before I went to a boys’ school, here we were combined with girls. Of course, my first love immediately came over me - well, maybe not love yet, but already some serious feelings for a girl from the seventh grade. I remember writing notes to her. We gathered with the guys in the yard, played guitars, sang, and I shot bullets rolled out of paper from a slingshot at her. open windows on the second floor. It said something like: “Sveta, come out, you good girl! And I waited in excitement for her appearance. Periodically, she came out, I, inspired by hope, extended my hand for a reply note, but... every time she returned my bullets to me unopened. I was terribly worried. In the eighth grade, my feelings, albeit for another girl, were expressed more seriously: I accompanied her home, met her, we walked for a long time, but it never came to kissing.
—Where did you get the urge for the stage?
— I started singing in the second grade. I suddenly developed a voice, and my music teacher, Lyudmila Andronikovna, began taking me to different musical groups and showing me. I settled on the children's choir of the Falconer's House of Pioneers, where I then went for three years. Everyone gasped: “Oh, what a voice the boy has!” In the tenth grade I started singing seriously. I bought all sorts of records - I especially liked Italian tenors - listened and sang. Although I had a strong baritone, which later, already at the institute, turned into a bass-baritone.
I went to GITIS to apply, but failed. I went to work as a prop maker at the Bolshoi Theatre, bringing tables and chairs onto the stage. The atmosphere shocked me. At that time, Lemeshev was still singing there, Vishnevskaya and Milashkina were already singing... It was incredibly interesting to listen to them, although I didn’t want to become an opera singer, I was interested in rock and roll, jazz, and I just needed to get vocal and acting education. The operetta department of GITIS, where musical theater actors were trained, had what was needed: vocals, acting, stage movement, stage speech. But the next year I was not accepted again. This time dad said: “Go to a normal job and get ready for some normal university, otherwise you’ll completely forget.” school curriculum" And I went to work at a physical equipment factory. And where to study, I already didn’t care about the lantern. I was going to enter either a geological exploration department together with a friend, or the Moscow Aviation Institute, so that it would be closer to home... But I still decided on a third attempt at GITIS. Finally passed the exam in my specialty. And then I heard: “We don’t have military department, and therefore you will still be drafted into the army. So go and serve.”
- Did you serve conditionally - in the ensemble?
It didn’t take me long to get there. First, he took a young soldier course for six months, then served in a tank company in Germany - under the full program: shooting, exercises, guns, tanks. I am a tank driver, loader and gunner. It was 1961, the crisis in political relations— Cuba, the Caribbean, the world is on the threshold of the third world war. Tanks stand opposite each other on opposite sides of the Brandenburg Gate. Announced combat readiness number one, we are in our tank unit - it was located 80 km from East Berlin - sleeping in an embrace with machine guns. The confrontation was powerful. By the way, as I later learned, almost at this very time, Elvis Presley was serving on the opposite side of Berlin, in its western part. It's funny.
- I served in a tank unit - 80 km from East Berlin - photo: from personal archive
Army life was hard. At six o'clock we get up, in any weather - cross-country on the parade ground. In a tunic, or even with a bare torso. You run for half an hour - exercise. Rain, puddles - it doesn’t matter, do push-ups... We recovered - marching in formation. Leshchenko, sing! This is where conflicts often occurred. There are no frosts in Germany; minus two or three degrees is normal for winter. But even such a temperature is death for the voice. I say: “I can’t sing in the cold.” And the foreman, the Ukrainian, at least said: “What’s the matter?! Why?!” And then unprintably - tra-ta-ta! I explain once again: “I want to become a professional artist, and for this I need to preserve my voice.” - “Get out of action! Let's march!" And runs next to me. But it’s difficult to run over me, after all, I was a fairly athletic guy, a basketball player...
In the end I approached the wife of the regiment commander. “Olga Vasilievna,” I say, “please explain to our company sergeant major so that he doesn’t force me to sing in the cold.” She was horrified: “How dare he! Yes, I him! In short, I was understanding. And they didn’t bother me anymore with this.
One day I was noticed. At the viewing party dedicated to February 23, I was asked to sing “Buchenwald Alarm” together with the song and dance ensemble. The ovation was wild, I was called for an encore, and... I became the soloist of this ensemble. In total, he served for three years. They persuaded me to stay for the extra term: “Agree, don’t be a fool! You will receive 450 marks.” But no, I had a dream - GITIS... In which I was finally enrolled.
- You don’t say anything about matters of the heart. Or did you only have enough for the army, study and creativity?
- No, there was time for love too. After the concert at the army hospital, I met and then became close friends with a nurse from Lugansk named Larisa. On weekends she came to my unit. We walked with her, our feelings were very passionate, but there was nowhere to meet normally - not in the barracks. Then she went home to enter medical institute. We corresponded. Gradually the letters began to arrive less and less often, and finally I stopped receiving them altogether. On my short vacation I was planning to go to her - I wanted to meet my parents and discuss the wedding. But just before leaving, I accidentally got into a conversation with her friend, who served us under a contract, and she told me that Larisa was getting married to a guy who, it turns out, she had liked for a long time. It took me a long time to recover from such a brutal blow...
I got married when I was in my third year. Alla Abdalova was a fifth-grade student and was considered the most talented and promising at the university. Classical singer, with a beautiful deep mezzo-soprano, student of Maria Petrovna Maksakova. She was accepted into the Bolshoi Theater trainee group. But it so happened that because of me she became attached to the stage. When at the beginning of my third year I was invited to play at the Operetta Theater, I told the artistic director of our course, director Ansimov: “Georgy Pavlovich, I will work for you, just take one more girl.” It’s not like he set a condition, but he asked very persistently. Alla was hired and worked there for two years.
Alla Abdalova
And then they began to invite me to the famous pop orchestra under the direction of Utesov, they gave me a rate of as much as 250 rubles - a huge amount of money at that time. At the theater I had a salary of 110 rubles. But Ansimov, when I came to him to resign, objected: “No, I won’t let you go. What orchestra? You’re a theater artist, you have roles here, albeit episodic for now, but soon you’ll get the main one.” I mumbled: “I want to sing...” And yet I didn’t move on.
Alla Abdalova
And Alla, whom I dragged with me to Utesov, on the contrary, remained there, albeit with a much more modest salary... Literally six months later, GITIS teacher Anna Kuzminichna Matyushina (I call her my creative mother), a singer who headed the vocal studio at the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, said me: “Lev, what are you doing in the operetta? You’d better come to the radio, there are six orchestras, you’ll sing with them in all musical genres, and tour.” And I moved to radio, where I worked as a soloist for ten years. During this time all the quail opera repertoire, romances, recorded 350 songs. And they paid decent money there. One “but”... My teacher was right when she said: “Never marry an artist. A struggle of ambitions, squabbles, conflicts, scandals will begin.” This is what happened to Alla and me.
- Why did you decide to get married? It was possible to meet like that.
“I don’t know myself, but it seems like I should get married, so I got married.” From the moment Alla and I scattered among different organizations, life began to take us apart - we each endlessly went on our own tours. At the same time, I became more and more popular, and she, with all her unconditional talent, remained in the shadows. Which, of course, hurt her. Conflicts, reproaches, and violent quarrels ensued. The situation was heating up. The explosion occurred in 1974 after my month and a half trip to Japan with some ensemble. Reconciliation was already difficult for us, but here disagreements reached their peak. I arrived, and it began: “You only think about yourself, you cheated on me there, you had affairs!” It was simply unbearable, my nerves couldn’t stand it, I felt that I wouldn’t last long like this. And Alla and I parted ways. True, the next year they tried to mend the relationship again. But you can’t step into the same river twice. To be honest, creative people rarely get along together. At the heart of the problem is jealousy—both creative and human.
Alla Abdalova and Lev Leshchenko perform the song "Old Maple"
- So the jealousy was probably not unfounded? You are handsome, popular, wealthy, surrounded huge amount women, it’s difficult not to succumb to temptation.
“I won’t lie, I’m not a monk, but a normal man, and not blind, which means I paid attention to attractive women.” Moreover, in reality there were crowds of fans - they tracked them down, stood guard at the door, gave flowers, declared their love. But I never cultivated it. He was neither a womanizer, nor a Don Juan, nor a lustful sensualist. I didn’t trail every skirt.
- Although the actor's life of spree and partying contributes to this...
- What are you talking about?! What parties?! Let’s say a radio broadcast of “Schumann’s Romances” or “Arias of World Classics” is scheduled for tomorrow. Oh my! And I know them through thick and thin. So at ten in the morning I leave home on the metro and go to a lesson with the amazing teacher Pyotr Ivanovich Selivanov - to teach compositions for next day. And from there - sign up for the radio. And in the evening there is a concert. Where is the time for revelry? Moreover, at concerts I was very nervous at first.
I remember being terribly worried at my very first performance from the State Television and Radio in St. Petersburg, in the Oktyabrsky concert hall. There was a radio festival, and I performed together with Zykina and Belobragina - I sang in Rodion Shchedrin’s cantata “Lenin in the People’s Heart” the aria of the Red Army soldier Belmas, who was standing guard when the leader died. The words were heartbreaking: “I am a former farm laborer, in 1917 I quit working for a kulak and joined the ranks of the Bolshevik Party...” But that’s nothing. Lyusa Zykina had to perform “The People’s Lament” - a 40-minute piece; and Luda Belobragina sang about the button that she sewed on Lenin’s coat...
There were six orchestras on the radio at that time, and I sang with them all. I was torn apart, so whatever parties there were, it was generally forgotten for ten years. Only very occasionally, on holidays. Besides, I toured a lot. He represented the country at international festivals: he became a laureate both in Sopot, Poland, and at the Golden Orpheus in Bulgaria.
- So how could I win the heart of such a person? enviable man your current wife, what made Irina stand out from all your seductresses?
“On the contrary, it was I who won Irino’s heart.” In 1976 I was on tour in Sochi, where we met. Completely by accident. More precisely, my friend, who was dating her friend, introduced us. And, imagine, I fell in love with Ira almost immediately. It happens like this: I saw it, and inside it was like a signal - mine! It’s as if someone from above whispered: this woman was sent to you, destined, she is your destiny. First of all, Ira attracted me visually - she still looks good, but then she was a rare beauty: a striking brunette, although too thin for my taste, but most importantly, she exuded a kind of peace and unfeigned love of life. And she was unusually feminine - impeccable style, charm, a little slyness, an insinuating voice, cheerful sparkles in her eyes. I was also struck by her indifferent attitude towards my person. Which was incredible at that time. It turned out that she didn’t know me at all, since she studied at the University of Budapest to become a diplomat. That is, for four years the girl lived in a completely different world. Well, show me some popular singer from Mongolia. Who is he to me? Nobody. So I was nothing to Ira. A friend told her that Leshchenko was a famous singer throughout the Union when Irina asked who I was and why everyone was hovering around me: were they mafiosi? So, Ira saw in me not a pop wonder, but ordinary person. And in addition to her attractive appearance, she also intrigued me with her mystery: when I asked where she lived and what she did, she avoided answering. And, as you know, a secret in a woman is a destructive arrow for a man. In short, I liked her, and I began to court her... But a day later, Ira and her friend flew to Moscow on some business.
- So what, in these couple of days you only managed to get acquainted?
- We managed to do a lot: meet each other, chat, have dinner, drink, kiss... In short, a whirlwind romance began. And I rushed after her to Moscow. Moreover, she didn’t even leave me a phone number, let alone an address. Okay, it was a friend's number. I called and asked: “Where are you?” She quietly answers: “Irochka is with me.” Well, I’m going there, to them - on Lesnaya. I'm coming. Luxurious three-room apartment. A friend says: “You can stay, we have a room.” I spent three days there. Without going home, I took the car from the garage, and the girls and I had fun with it. Then Ira had to return to Budapest; she entered her fifth year. I saw her off and went home. Internally already was- ready to a break with Alla, and he did not keep himself waiting. When the doorbell rang, my wife opened it slightly with the words: “Sorry, now...” and carried two suitcases onto the landing. I said: “Thank you very much for avoiding a scandal. You acted wisely. I sincerely wish you all the best." I took my suitcases, got into the car and drove away. Although - well, this is true, by the way - the three-room apartment in which we lived was mine... I came to my parents on Tishinka: “Mom, my wife and I separated. I’ll live with you until I rent an apartment.” She was surprised: “Why? Valyushka lives with us, and you live, for God’s sake, here’s a room for you.” And I stayed. But I wasn’t there much, mostly touring.
Irina and Lev 1978: from personal archive
— Did you somehow sort out that apartment?
- Well, yes - I left it to my wife. Then I brought both the apartment and the car. I left everything. Although later I couldn’t get a new one, they refused me and said: “You already have a three-room apartment.” And I really needed to live somewhere with Irochka. When she came for the holidays, I took her on tour with me - to Novosibirsk, to St. Petersburg, and we lived in hotels. Actually, she planned to stay in Hungary. She has two languages - Hungarian and English, and, of course, she could get a good job in some international organization. But I whole year processed her - wanted her to come back. I called her at the hostel every evening. Learned in a mixture of Hungarian and English phrase: “Please call Irina Bagudina from room 13,” I waited for her to pick up the phone, and... we talked for hours. The first total bill for telephone calls was something crazy - five and a half thousand, which was the cost of a Lada car at that time. Mom, seeing such numbers, was speechless, only clasped her hands: “Son, you’ve gone crazy.” Really crazy... Strange, right? I’m telling you, I didn’t have any problems with women - there were crowds of them, you could choose any one. But I wanted exactly this one - Ira. I sought her for two years, one might say, I won her. And he finally achieved his goal and snatched her out of Hungary. He said: “Let’s start living together with you. If it works out, we’ll get married.” Since there was no apartment, we lived in a rented apartment for a year. Moreover, Ira’s parents strict rules, and she came home to spend the night every evening. She entered graduate school here and went on tour with me. Finally, I bought an apartment, in July 1978 we got married and really began to live together... Plus, in addition to all other advantages, Ira turned out to be an impeccable housewife, a magician in her ability to create family comfort. Attentive, caring, understands everything correctly, cooks great. By the way, Ira still does everything at home herself, with her own hands - cooking, sewing, decorating. She has a gift from God in this regard.
- So you understand what love is?
- Actually, this feeling is different: for the homeland, for the mother, for the neighbor, for the woman... As for love in the family, it’s probably the impossibility of living without each other. When you are constantly in a state increased attention to your to a loved one, fear of losing him. Plus fluidity - a feeling of some kind of lasting mutual sympathy. And, of course, physical affection. This is where it all begins, this is where all relationships are mixed up. For me, Ira is everything. In all guises. A man against whom I have no complaints. Imagine, none. I know that sometimes others don’t like something about their wife, it irritates her. Ira and I have been together for 36 years now, and we are incredibly comfortable. Although, sometimes we shout at each other, especially when we sit down to play backgammon and she beats. Here I can boil, throw chips. But we never cross the line.
- Do you regret anything?
- Only that we don’t have children. At one time, they somehow didn’t think about it, I was running around, Ira didn’t bother me in this regard, she understood that I was making a career. And then some problems arose that were insoluble... But what can you do? You know, I’m not too upset about this, because I have a charming environment - many relatives, nephews, godchildren, so I have someone to take care of...
Family: wife - Irina Bagudina (married - Leshchenko)
Education: graduated from GITIS
Career: worked as a prop maker at the Bolshoi Theater, and as an assembler at a physical equipment factory. He was an artist of the Moscow Operetta Theater and a soloist of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. Laureate of domestic and international competitions. Head of the variety performance theater "Musical Agency". Performer of many popular songs, including: “Victory Day”, “Don’t Cry, Girl”, “Nightingale Grove”, “Farewell!”, “Parental Home”, “Gravity of the Earth...”. People's Artist of the RSFSR
Lev Leshchenko lost his twin sons
interview with Alla Abdalova - the first wife of Lev Leshchenko
Lev LESCHENKO is rightly considered the most faithful husband of the Russian stage. He has been married to his wife Irina for 30 years. Few people know that his first wife was singer Albina ABDALOVA. Fortune did not smile on the talented singer of romances. She is lonely, living on a meager pension. An Express Gazeta correspondent found her. Albina Alexandrovna told what prevented the outstanding singer from becoming truly happy.
Maria SVETLOVA
I tried to arrange a meeting with Albina Abdalova for three years. She politely refused with an iron voice. But this time something broke in her. She willingly supported the telephone conversation and unexpectedly agreed to meet.
...Trying to walk straight, she left the entrance. She was holding a photograph in her hands. “This is me in my youth. She was like this when Leva and I broke up,” she handed me the photo, as if making excuses for her current unpresentable appearance. On June 19 she turned 67 years old. Smiling guiltily, she doused me with a slight fume.
Sorry, I drank a little,” she apologized, shyly covering her mouth with her hand. -
I have almost no teeth now.
Calling on the phone, I asked to visit, but Albina Aleksandrovna did not succumb to any persuasion.
“My house is a mess,” she admitted. Therefore, we had to talk in the yard, on a bench.
- Leva and I lived in the next entrance, in a three-room apartment. Our first apartment is a two-room apartment in Chertanovo. From the radio committee where Leva worked, they built a cooperative. Of course, we didn’t have our own money - my sister helped. Later we moved here to Sokolniki, our friend contributed. In addition, Leva was already a laureate of the Golden Orpheus. He left me, as befits a real man - with one suitcase. Why do I need three rooms on my own? I exchanged for a two-room apartment. I wanted to show you photographs of us together - young, beautiful. But they got lost somewhere, I can’t find them. I put them away so as not to poison my soul.
Her eyes turned red, she took off her glasses and sobbed like an offended child.
- When Leva left, I thought he would take our pictures as a souvenir. But no, I didn’t take a single photo.
I had to shoot a cigarette for my interlocutor. Having lit a cigarette, she calmed down a little and began to reminisce.
Love to the skies
We studied together at GITIS in the operetta department. He is two years younger, although I am a year older than Leva, he just entered after the army. The girls were delighted: what a handsome guy appeared! He also had curls. For some reason he felt shy and straightened them out. But the fact that he had a lisp - he didn’t have complexes and didn’t work with speech therapists. I thought he was good anyway.
One day Leva looked into the dance class. I look - he is looking at me point blank. I'm not timid. After class she came up and asked: “What’s the matter?” He replied that I looked a lot like his niece. I was not at a loss: “Let’s take her to her and show her, I’ll see if you’re lying.” We arrived in Khimki, to his home. And for sure: I am the spitting image of my niece!
Levi's stepmother took our visit very seriously; she decided that since Lyova had brought home a girl, that meant he was a bride.
“One day I come to class, and he’s standing outside the classroom with a bouquet of daisies,” Abdalova continues. - It’s my birthday. And of all the flowers, I love daisies. He took me by the arm and led me into the front garden of GITIS. He sat him down on a bench and took out a bottle of wine. Then the guys ran to the store... I still can’t stand sweet wine. By the way, when visiting I always had to drink for two. Leva takes a sip, and his diction becomes so loud that you can’t understand anything, just hissing.
Since then, Leva and Alla walked each other home after class. First he takes her to Karbyshev Boulevard, then she takes him to the Voikovskaya metro station. Then again he is hers.
Somehow we got so carried away that it was too late for Alla to return. He invited the girl to spend the night with him.
- He said: “Don’t think anything bad: I have dad, mom and sister at home.” The family, of course, was fast asleep. Then he asked me: “Al, is this really our first time?” And I was fooling around, no, I don’t remember something.
- Was this your first love as an adult?
- No, before Lyova I had men, and Lyova had women. Before registration, we lived with him for seven years. We met secretly - either at my sister's or at his parents'. Leva once told me: “We never slept with you except in heaven!” That is, everywhere!
- ?!
- It's truly a miracle if you are a man at any moment... even the wrong one! There are people around, but I feel: he wants. And he should get it. And I want this too. That is, we are tuned in to the same wavelength... - Albina Alexandrovna took a deep drag on her cigarette and sighed: - After Lyova, I didn’t allow myself anything like that. After all, you can only lose your head with the man you love.
Failed father
Once Lev Valerianovich complained that he did not have the opportunity to raise children. You didn't give birth. The second time he married a woman younger than himself. And this marriage is also barren...
- If you are hinting that something is wrong with Lev Valerianovich, then you are mistaken! He's doing well with this. And I was not infertile; he had to have several abortions.
-For what?
- Yes, he sometimes said that we should have children. But in reality everything turned out differently. Having become pregnant, I thought for a long time what to do. I was haunted by doubts whether we would continue to be together. I asked him: “Do you love me? If yes, then I’ll give birth.” He didn’t answer me. So I went to the midwife. Another time I got pregnant again, I asked him again what to do. But he has no time for that. He came from Japan, he had impressions... He muttered something like, do as you please. Out of stupidity, perhaps, I asked the doctor who was scraped out of me. She says: "Boy." I didn’t even tell my husband that we would have a son. Then I went for abortions without consultation. One day, after an operation, a doctor told me: “Alla, you could have two great boys. Twins". I felt like I was scalded. I barely made it home. I come and see: Leva is lounging in a chair, chatting on the phone with Slava Dobrynin. And Slava, I’ll tell you, is one of those ladies’ men. I hear them agreeing to go out with the girls. And Leva smiles as if nothing had happened, and also asks me: “What are you doing, old woman?” I answered him: “Do what you want.” But in general, Lyova was not a lover, I never caught him with anyone. Before Irina, his current wife, he never cheated on me with anyone. He's a decent person.
Attractive man
“Many women liked Leva, but not only women,” Abdalova laughed good-naturedly, remembering the funny story.
1972 was a real breakthrough for Lev Leshchenko. He won the Golden Orpheus in Bulgaria, then received an invitation to participate in a competition in Sopot, Poland.
Alla and Leva lived poorly. Lev Valerianovich did not have suitable clothes. Someone advised me to contact fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev. The couturier invited the singer to come to the studio for a fitting.
- Have you noticed that Lev Valerianovich has such an ass... well, not quite like a man should. In general, it’s a homosexual’s dream,” Abdalova giggles kindly. - The first time he was caught by homosexuals was in the toilet near the operetta theater. I saw my man fly out of the latrine all white: “I almost killed myself!” I ask: “A fagot, or what?” And I joke: “It’s no surprise, your butt is wow, I don’t have one like that.” So the fashion designer also appreciated it. Leva persuaded me to go together, he always insisted that I be present during his business conversations, because he is shy. But I didn’t agree that time. And then I see: the husband jumps out from Zaitsev, trembling with indignation. He immediately declares to me: “I won’t go to him again!”
Leshchenko had to go to Sopot in his wife’s trouser ensemble. Red wool double-breasted suit with elasticated pants. According to Abdalova, it still hangs in her closet at home as a memory.
- Edita Piekha couldn’t resist and quipped, what did Lyovochka wear? And I answered: “In your negligee, Edita Stanislavovna!” - Abdalova laughs.
Even after two victories at prestigious Soviet years At festivals, Leshchenko was not at all torn apart by the concert organizers. Abdalova, according to her, tried to help her husband, using her connections. And, as Abdalova says, he even sang the signature song “Victory Day” with her help.
- Mark Fradkin and his wife treated me very sincerely. I often visited their house and tried to take Leva with me. One day Mark called David Tukhmanov and recommended Leva to him as a performer. David brought "Victory Day". Leva didn’t like the song at first. I felt: this is what I need. He winced, but I managed to convince him.
Gave it up without a fight
Albina Alexandrovna fell silent and took in her hands the bouquet of flowers that I gave her.
- These are the ones Leva gave me. I always believed him. And he deceived me. I immediately felt that he had a woman on his side and said: “I need all of you. Once you have someone else, leave.” And then she filed for divorce. He himself would never have decided to break up. What a fool she was!
He said that a friend was going to introduce him to Irina, his current wife, but fate got ahead of him: they accidentally collided in the elevator. I know this friend. This is Fima Zuperman. In those years he was a famous card sharper. Fima led a nocturnal lifestyle. He dropped into our house in the evening and stayed until the morning. I couldn’t stand it, I drove everyone away, because Leva was either going to a recording session or a concert in the morning, and he didn’t get enough sleep. Fima got angry and somehow threatened: “You don’t like my company, so I’ll divorce you from Leva.” And he got divorced. He specially arranged everything, brought Leva and Irina together. But Leva was unable to give birth to children... And despite everything, I still love Leva and wish him only happiness.
Abdalova has not seen Lev Leshchenko for more than 30 years, since they broke up. Even on TV. She doesn't have one. She receives a small pension. Therefore, he earns money by singing in churches.
I walked Albina Alexandrovna to the entrance. In parting she said:
- Call me tomorrow, please. Otherwise, no one calls me except my sister.
REFERENCE
* Alla (Albina) ABDALOVA born June 19, 1941, singer of romances. She sang in Leonid Utesov's orchestra. Together with Lev Leshchenko she recorded the songs “Old Maple”, “Song of Young Neighbors”, and a song for the film “Yurkin Dawns”. She worked at Mosconcert and is now retired.
*Lev LESCHENKO born February 1, 1942. Since 1970, soloist of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, after victories at the Golden Orpheus and in Sopot - laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize, since 1983 - People's Artist RSFSR, performer of many dozens of hits that have become classics of the national stage.
*
Irina LESCHENKO (BAGUDINA) born May 15, 1954. Lev Valerianovich met her in 1976 in Sochi, where he was touring and Irina was on vacation. She is the daughter of diplomats and graduated from the University of Budapest. They got married in 1978. There are no children in the marriage.